Assassin
by Ashe Nightshade
Summary: Lovino's an assassin and Antonio is the target. Lovino's just supposed to kill him and move on, but what happens when he falls in love with Antonio? Rated T for some of the future content and our dear Lovino's colorful language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there everyone! Ashe here :)**

**All righty guys.**

**So this is the first fanfiction I've ever made and actually published and actually INTENDED to finish. No seriously, I'ma finish this one! *****determined face***

**Anyway, the point: be nice in reviews pleasies? :) Ah! And no flaming, kay-kays? Or you die. :) *machete* **

**Oh, but constructive criticism is HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY appreciated, so...constructively criticize away. It helps me. Aussi, if you have suggestions as to how I can make any characters less OOC that'd be great (first Hetalia fanfic = characters probably super OOC or something like that). Sorry 'bout that...**

**But if you perceive any characters OOC and have a suggestion to how I can fix them, please tell! :)**

**Since fail summary is fail:**

**Feli and Lovi are assassins who are employed by whoever wants to pay them enough money to kill someone. Antonio is the target in this story, and since Feli is a not-great (but CUTE) assassin who'd rather make people pasta than kill them (d'aw) Lovi agrees to kill Antonio for Feli. But then Lovi meets Antonio and ends up falling for him. What's he going to do now...?**

**Note: Lovino and Feliciano are the sons of Italian immigrants in this story. Thus, they've lived in America all their lives but they speak some Italian in the story (not much because I don't know much Italian, though).**

"Ve~ But I don't _want_ to kill him, Lovi! He seems like such a nice person in this picture~!" Feliciano said, looking pale and distraught.

Lovino grumbled a few swearwords under his breath before snatching the file folder from Feliciano. "Fine, dammit! I'll do it! But you said the exact same thing about the bastardo before him. You've got to learn to kill your own targets at some point, dammit!" He glanced down at the folder and the picture attached. As assassins, Feliciano and Lovino worked separately, each taking their own targets. The idea was that working separately, the twin brothers would earn more money killing more people than they would earn working together on the same targets-but as usual, Feliciano didn't want to kill his target. He never did-he'd rather stuff them all with pasta.

The man in the photo had green eyes, wavy brown hair and tan skin. He looked to be laughing in the photo, and Lovino couldn't help but wonder how this person could have pissed off a mob boss, of all people. The man-Lovino read the name, Antonio Fernanadez Carriedo-seemed pretty harmless in the photo. And also pretty clueless.

Then again, you could never judge a person by their photo, right? Who knew what this guy had done.

Flipping open the folder, he read the details inside.

Antonio Fernandez Carriedo was Spanish, age 25, born on February 12, 1987, lived in America his whole life, grew up with a mother who was a Spanish immigrant. Fascinating. He worked in a coffee shop, which he also happened to own.

Lovino sighed and turned back to Feliciano, who was going on about being sorry and how he would kill his own target next time. "Uh-huh, sure. Look, I'm going to go out and find this guy, scope out the target and shit. I'll be back later." He turned to leave, picking up his coat at the door and tucking the folder inside of a pocket in his coat.

"Ve~ Okay! I'll make pasta!" Feliciano called after Lovino as he left.

Lovino headed off down the street, coat zipped and hands in his pockets. He wasn't going to kill Antonio today. Killing a target took time, to ensure that you killed the right person and that the killing looked like an accident or suicide more than an assassination. Today, Lovino was just going to scope out the target. And what better place to do that than at the coffee shop where Antonio Carriedo worked?

Lovino had chosen to walk to the shop because it wasn't that far, so why not?

Lovino had only been walking for half an hour **(I don't think it's that far to walk, so be quiet.) **when he reached the cafe. He paused to read the sign outside the cafe. Cafe...Spain. How _original_.

Lovino pushed open the door to the cafe and walked inside.

His gaze swept quickly around the room, taking in the customers. Sitting at a table nearer to the door was a man with shoulder-length blond hair and blue eyes who was flirting with a girl who was sitting with him. At the shadowed corner table was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes who was hugging a small white bear. A man with wavy brown hair and violet eyes was seated at a window table with a girl who had long brown hair and green eyes. Standing at the counter was a white-haired and very loud man with red eyes, and behind the counter stood Antonio, who was laughing and chatting with the white-haired man as he passed the man his coffee.

Lovino walked towards the counter, hand in his pocket for money. The coffee was apparently $2.10, so about 2.25 with tax. Good. He could pay for that.

The white-haired man was moving towards a table near the blond man flirting with the girl, leaving Lovino to order now. "One coffee."

"Si, that's $2.25 please," Antonio replied cheerfully.

Lovino pushed over three dollars and received his change.

"So," Antonio said cheerfully, "I haven't seen you around here before. It's good to see someone new! I'm Antonio, who are you?"

"I-I'm not telling you that! Bastardo!" Lovino exclaimed, caught off guard. It was his policy not to give out his name-especially not to targets.

"Please?"

"No! Just give me the damn coffee already!" Lovino snapped. Stupid bastard.

"Okay! Oh, I only have instant coffee, I hope that's okay," Antonio said cheerfully.

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Well, I already fucking paid, didn't I?" he snapped. "I guess I'm stuck with it now."

"You don't want it...? I'll give you your money back if you want," Antonio said, turning to look at Lovino with a frown.

"I-that's not what I meant!" Lovino snapped. "I'll take the goddamn coffee, bastard!"

"Okay!" Antonio said cheerfully, turning back to the instant coffee.

Jesus Christ, how was this guy so cheerful? No one could be that cheerful! It wasn't natural!

"Here's your coffee," Antonio said happily, placing it in front of Lovino.

"Yeah, thanks, whatever," Lovino mumbled. He took the coffee and was about to turn to go find a seat when he paused. "...Lovino."

"Huh?"

"My name. It's Lovino, okay?" Lovino snapped, wondering why the hell he'd done that. Talk about against his better judgment...

"Aw, you told me your name after all! Thank you, Lovi!"

"...What the fuck is a _Lovi_?" Lovino exclaimed, turning back to face Antonio.

"It's you, of course!" Antonio said, smiling.

"My name is Lovino. _Lo. Vi. No._ Get it right!" Lovino snapped.

"You're so cute, Lovi~!" Antonio said cheerfully.

"What the fuck? I am not!" Lovino exclaimed, turning red.

"Aw, Lovi looks like a tomato!"

"F-fuck you, bastardo!" Scowling, Lovino turned to go sit at the table farthest away from the counter, a table near the violet-eyed young man in the corner.

Sitting down, Lovino couldn't help casting a glance back at Antonio, who he now realized was wearing an apron decorated with tomatoes...stupid tomato bastard.

Still, the man seemed...well, a bit clueless and way too cheerful but generally harmless. How had _he _become a target of the mob?

Lovino shook his head and took a sip of the coffee. It wasn't his business to get involved in the targets or what they'd done. It was his business to take them out.

Getting involved with a target was always a bad idea.

_If it's such a bad idea, why'd you tell him your name?_ asked a little, nagging voice in the back of Lovino's head.

_Shut the fuck up!_ Lovino snapped at it, glancing back at Antonio again. The man was cleaning counters and humming quietly, smiling. _I-I did it because...because I did! It doesn't change that I'm going to kill him!_

_If you say so... _said the nagging little voice.

Lovino scowled at the tabletop. Giving his name, and not even his last name, didn't change that he could and would still do his job. It wasn't like he was really involved with Antonio just by giving out his name!

Lovino returned to observing Antonio as furtively as he could. He watched the way Antonio hummed as he worked, cleaning the counters and arranging desserts in the display case, and the way Antonio interacted with each customer. The white-haired man (Antonio called him 'Gil') and the blond-haired man who had been flirting (Francis) appeared to be friends of Antonio's. After the girl left, Gil had taken her seat at Francis's table, and Francis and Gil had continually left their seats to go talk to Antonio. Lovino's best guess was that the three men were friends, probably good friends judging by the long and loud conversations they held.

All three seemed equally obnoxious to Lovino.

Gil kept proclaiming in a very loud voice how 'awesome' he was, while Francis seemed to flirt with anything that moved. Antonio, of course, was just so...fucking...cheerful.

Lovino sighed. The three of them together were giving him an enormous headache. Still, it was good to know that Francis and Gil were Antonio's friends. He'd have to be very careful with how he dealt with Antonio; if they got suspicious after Antonio died, they could cause problems.

So...not suicide, then. Antonio was far too cheerful for suicide, any idiot could see that, and if Francis and Gil took it upon themselves to investigate what would be Antonio's _very _suspicious 'suicide' it would create more problems than Lovino wanted to deal with.

An accident, maybe?

Lovino frowned. Well, at least he had time to plan the kill. There was no deadline on this one-just the order to kill Antonio as soon as possible.

Lovino sighed, standing. He was out of coffee, and the other customers had slowly trickled out, the last one (Francis) leaving only ten minutes ago. How they had the time to spend most of the afternoon in Cafe Spain, Lovino didn't understand...sure, it was a Sunday, but didn't they have better things to do? Lovino was here because it was part of his _job_.

"Bye, Lovi~" Antonio called from where he was wiping off the counters again. "I hope you come back soon!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Whatever, tomato bastard," he snapped as he left. He probably would be back-he needed to observe Antonio more to determine how to kill him.

Lovino sighed, heading out into the cold, crisp fall night to walk home.

**AAAAAAAAAAND...I'ma end it there.**

**So this chapter totally sucked! YAY!**

**Anyway, Canada did make an appearance in this chapter, and I don't know if he'll be back later or not. The Bad Touch Trio will be in this story some, perhaps more than I originally planned if I can figure out how to write for Antonio (a chapter from his point of view will feature the BTT more than one from Lovi's point of view).**

**There will be more Feli in the next chapter, I promise.**

**In case y'all hadn't noticed, Austria and Hungary made an appearance here too. They might be back later, but they will only be bit players (if they do come back).**

**If Canada does make more of an appearance, there will be slight PruCan just because I OBSESS OVER THAT PAIRING. Yeah.**

**So that's all! Read and review, please :) And remember: Constructive criticism! I love it! Also, any suggestions on how to make the characters less OOC is welcome! Kay then, until next time, please read and review!**

**All reviewers get a hug from Canada!**

**Canada: E-eh?**

**Me: Yup, that's right, a hug from him! *tackles Mattie with a hug***

**So review :) You know you want the hug.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo, what's up :)**

**Disclaimer: Spamano canon yet? No? Well then, obviously I don't own Hetalia *****cough* yet *cough***

**I'm going to leave all the important but more non-story related stuff for the end.**

**Enjoy the chapter~! :)**

"Lovi...Looooviiii...Looooooviiiiiiiiiiiii, you have to wake _up_..." Feliciano prodded his brother a few times.

Lovino blinked, still half-asleep, then snapped into his pillow, "What the hell? Haven't you heard of letting people sleep?"

"But Lovi, it's noon, and you said to wake you up by noon if you weren't awake yet..."

Lovino groaned. Shit. He had said that, hadn't he?

...Dammit.

"Uh-huh," he mumbled, shutting his eyes again. Goddammit. He had asked Feliciano to wake him up by noon because he had things to do-like go back and keep analyzing how to kill Antonio.

But he had been up late the previous night getting rid of the guy who was actually _his_ target, and Lovino hadn't returned home until five in the fucking morning. So of course he was fucking tired!

"-something?"

Lovino just caught the last word of Feliciano's question. He sighed and sat up to look at Feliciano, crouched on the end of the bed. "...What?"

"I-I wanted to...to talk to you...about something...is it okay if I talk to you about that something?" Feliciano asked, seeming nervous.

Lovino frowned, his tired brain unable to come up with a reason for Feli to be nervous. "...Uh. Sure. Can it wait until, you know, after I have a fucking shower?" he muttered.

"Ve~ Sure," Feli answered, sounding both apprehensive and relieve at the same time. "I'll go make pasta!" He hopped off the bed and left the room.

Pasta for breakfast. Well, Lovino couldn't deny that he liked pasta, especially his brother's pasta.

Lovino shut his eyes, then mumbled something about fifteen more minutes and flopped back onto his pillow, pulling the covers up over his head.

Then Feliciano's voice floated back into the room, "And you better not be going back to sleep!"

Lovino groaned and threw off the covers. He lay there for a few minutes before rolling over and standing up. He stretched, then headed off to take that shower, grumbling the whole time about stupid mornings.

Lovino trotted into the kitchen about half an hour later. He was much more awake now, and also fully dressed. His hair was still slightly damp as he came into the kitchen.

Feliciano was busy making pasta. He insisted on making the pasta from scratch every single time he made it, so it took a lot longer for him to make pasta than it did for most other people.

But, Lovino reflected, it was definitely worth it. Feliciano's pasta was the best.

Watching Feli make the pasta, Lovino frowned. Hadn't there been something Feliciano wanted...? Yeah...he had wanted to talk to Lovino about something.

Well, no time like the present.

"Hey. Feli."

"Sì?"

"Wasn't there something you wanted to talk about?"

Feliciano faltered in his pasta making for just a second before continuing with it as he replied, "...Ve...um...yes..."

Lovino waited for five minutes, then snapped, "Well, was _is_ it?"

"Ve...well...don't be mad, but..." Feliciano seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say for a minute before blurting out, "I-I was wondering what Antonio did!"

Lovino narrowed his eyes. "Feliciano. It doesn't fucking matter what he did. He's a target. We're the assassins. He dies. We move on. That's how it works! We don't get involved, remember?" He quashed the voice in the back of his head that was snidely reminding Lovino he had already involved himself by telling Antonio his name.

"Ve...I...I know, but..." Feliciano trailed off, eyes on the floor.

Lovino felt increasing apprehension as he said, "But what?"

"But...he seemed so nice in his picture...all the others, they didn't seem nice at all...and I thought...I just really wanted to know..."

Lovino huffed. "You of all people should know people can look nice and be as evil as fuck on the inside." He wasn't sure what he really meant by the 'you of all people' comment-Feliciano should know because of their line of work, maybe?

...Not that they had really ever encountered anyone who looked nice but was actually a terrible person.

Hell, as far as Lovino could tell, most people actually were exactly what they appeared to be.

But his point still stood!

Feliciano voiced something very close to Lovino's thoughts by saying, "But Lovi, you remember the others! They looked...mean, and cold, and awful! But Antonio, he was laughing, and he seemed really happy and nice! Didn't you wonder-"

Lovino refused to think about the fact that when he had first seen Antonio's picture, he had wondered the same thing. Instead, he cut Feli off with a short, "No."

Feliciano just looked at him. "Ve... But... Don't you even wonder... I mean, wouldn't it be interesting at least to investigate?"

Lovino frowned. "Why are you pushing the investi-" He broke off, feeling a sudden growing apprehension. "Oh, god. You _didn't._ _Please_ tell me you _didn't._"

"Ve...I...um...well, after you left I was really curious! So I did a little, itty, bitty, _tiiiiiny_ bit of digging!" Feliciano said, nervous again.

Lovino cursed. "Why? Why the hell, Feli? You know the goddamn rules! It doesn't matter what we wonder or anything! He's a target. We're assassins. He has a death sentence. We carry it out! End. Of. The. Fucking. Story."

"I know, but...come on, Lovi. You saw his picture. You _met_ him and you said he didn't seem so bad!"

Lovino had said that-something he now regretted. After returning home last night before he went out to get his target, he'd commented on how Antonio seemed nice, overly friendly and kind of an idiot-not really 'death-sentence-deserving' material.

Fuck. Why had he said that?

Lovino scowled. Regardless of what he had or hadn't said, one thing still stood. It didn't matter what Antonio had done. He was going to die. It was inevitable. "We do our jobs like we're supposed to!" Lovino yelled at Feliciano. That was the only way to get by without getting themselves killed-doing their jobs.

There was silence for a few minutes after Lovino had yelled. Feliciano stared at the floor, not moving and not speaking. Lovino crossed his arms and watched the wall uncomfortably, not speaking.

After five minutes, Lovino broke the silence. "I'm sorry I yelled."

Feliciano shrugged. "Ve...it's okay...it's like you said, right? You just have to do your job..."

Lovino couldn't help himself as Feliciano turned back to making pasta. "So, Feli...just out of curiosity...you didn't happen to find anything, did you?" Sure, Feliciano wasn't the greatest at investigating and yes, he had only looked for one day. But if he had managed to find anything important, Lovino wanted to know.

"...No. I didn't," Feliciano answered, his tone making it clear that this was his evidence that Antonio was innocent of any crime.

Lovino jumped on that immediately. "You know that doesn't mean anything. You only looked for a day. Whatever he did, it could be really well hidden. And besides, you know De Luca would never send us after anyone who didn't deserve it." Lovino couldn't say he liked De Luca, the mob boss, but as mob bosses went, De Luca was one of the better ones. He kept everything under tight control and he never killed anyone who hadn't actually done anything.

Feliciano nodded slightly and was silent.

Lovino sighed. "Feli. You're not mad at me, right?"

"Of course not," Feliciano answered, but while his tone wasn't angry or upset, it was a bit disappointed and very dejected.

Lovino gritted his teeth. Every time Feliciano was upset over something he had done, it never failed to make Lovino feel like he'd kicked a puppy.

...Dammit.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? But rules are rules!" Lovino snapped, trying desperately to explain himself. "We don't get involved, okay?"

_Because telling Antonio your name isn't getting involved at all, not even a little, even though he's the first target you've ever given your name to, _the snide little voice said to Lovino.

_Shut up, _Lovino snapped at it. _I...It's not the same thing, dammit!_

The snide voice appeared to have nothing to say. But Lovino could swear he felt smugness radiating off of it.

Lovino then became aware that Feliciano hadn't replied to what he'd said and was, in fact, watching him with the strangest expression on his face.

Lovino looked back at Feli for a few seconds before snapping, "What?"

Feliciano shook his head slightly. "Nothing," he said, but his tone was suddenly marginally cheerier. "Just thinking."

Lovino frowned, slightly unsettled and wondering why the hell he was unsettled by his brother's behavior. "...Oh..."

"Anyway, pasta's done! Ve~" Feliciano said happily, serving the pasta onto two plates.

As they sat down to eat, Feliciano said slowly, "So...um...are you going back to see Antonio again today...?"

Lovino frowned. "What? Yes, of course. I...have to check out some more stuff, and shit like that. You know. Typical things."

Feliciano nodded slightly. "...Right. Typical things." He went back to eating in silence.

Lovino stared at Feliciano for a minute. Usually Feliciano wouldn't have asked such a question. Or responded in such a strange way. "...What's up with you?"

"What?" Feliciano replied, studying his pasta.

"You're acting...like..." Lovino trailed off, knowing Feliciano would deny it if he said 'acting weird' but unable to come up with anything else. "You know what? Never mind. I'm leaving." He got up and left the table to get his coat, leaving half-eaten pasta on his plate.

"Ve~ Okay! See you later!" Feliciano said cheerfully as he started eating Lovino's pasta. After all, why waste perfectly good pasta?

Lovino sighed and headed for the door, walking out into the cold and starting to head towards Antonio's coffee shop. He wondered if any of the same people as yesterday would be there. It would be good to observe more of Antonio's interactions with others-the more he could learn about Antonio from those interactions, the better.

**AAAAAAAAANNNNND...SCENE!**

**Sorry guys, but I'm tired and I wanna sleep.**

**So I'm cutting off the chapter here, to be continued in the coffee shop in chapter three!**

**Now, important things (I think so anyway):**

**I'm really REALLY busy right now. So I will try to update at least once every week-ish, but if I miss a few weeks sometime, don't be mad? :)**

**I feel this chapter could have been better, but oh well...**

**Review, please! It feeds the plot bunny!**

**And the plot bunny needs serious feeding. It's practically missing its stomach.**

**(Which really means I have like the entire end of the story written and I'm not yet sure how to get there...)**

**Anyway. I've got some serious homework to do and it's late and like I said, I want sleep tonight...and I have to get up early tomorrow...so I'm going to wrap this up and leave you to review! (Hopefully.)**

**Thanks for reading. See y'all next time!**

**Before I go: Here's an interesting paradox for you guys...**

**Chapter one and chapter two of this story are about the same length...**

**And yet somehow chapter two's got about a thousand less words...**

**Sorry, I'll try to write longer chapters in the future.**

**Anyway, by now!**

**Reviews?**


	3. Chapter 3

**...*slides slowly into view* Hiiiii, guys... So after that absence, I'm back with a new chapter!**

**I know I promised I'd try to update at least once a week, but things have been really hectic with school and life and everything lately, so don't be surprised if I'm gone for another long period. I'll have more time come summer, but for now, updates will probably be few. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia...sadly.**

**All right, please read and enjoy!**

Lovino pushed open the door to the cafe and was a little surprised to find nearly everyone who had been there the previous day back again. He surreptitiously checked his watch. It was barely two o'clock and it was a _Monday_. Didn't these people have lives? Jobs? Places to be besides a crappy cafe run by an overly cheerful Spanish man who served only instant coffee?

...Apparently not.

Lovino took a seat at the same table as yesterday. As yet, Antonio seemed to have not noticed him as he was in the midst of conversation with his blond friend, Francis. That gave Lovino time to briefly survey the other customers while he waited for Francis to leave so he could go order...and maybe chat with Antonio a bit.

Not that he wanted to talk to the tomato bastard. He had to, that was all! It was part of his fucking _job_!

Lovino scowled. That almost sounded defensive, like he was fucking lying or something-it was _true_.

_Focus, Lovino. The customers are the important thing_, Lovino reminded himself. The customers and how they interacted with Antonio, with each other...

Looking around, Lovino saw Gil sitting at the corner table with the blond, blue-eyed boy with the bear from yesterday. Gil, as of currently, was calling the boy 'cute' and using the name...'Birdie'? Weird. Lovino switched his attention to the other customers, giving them a cursory glance. A few were typical passerby, stopping in briefly for a cup of coffee, but he recognized two other customers from the previous day, the man with purple eyes and the girl with him.

Listening in on their conversation as best he could, Lovino caught snatches of what they were talking about: something about a new piano. He also heard the girl calling the man 'Roderich.'

All right... Regular customers so far: the tomato bastard's apparently good friends Francis and Gil, 'Birdie,' who was apparently close to Gil (and Antonio?), the girl and Roderich. Were they all friends of Antonio? The guy was so fucking cheerful, Lovino supposed it was possible, but he hoped not; it would make his job all the more difficult if Antonio had a multitude of friends. It was possible that some of the customers came because they liked the coffee, but...why pay $2.25 for instant coffee you could buy in a store and make at home? No, they must all know and at the very least like Antonio...

Great. Lovino sighed. His job was getting harder by the second... More people who knew Antonio meant more people who could be suspicious if he did anything even slightly wrong, more people who would wonder about whatever tragic 'accident' happened to befall Antonio, more people he had to try and dupe...

It was so much easier with targets who didn't trust anyone, or trusted only one or two people.

Frowning, Lovino tried to figure out how much longer this investigation might take. He had to see how well each of these customers knew Antonio, who would know the tomato bastard best so he would know who to watch most carefully, as well as how best to go about getting rid of Antonio without arousing suspicion from any of them...

Lovino scowled at the twinge of guilt he felt at 'get rid of.' What the hell? He had no reason to feel guilty! Sure, the bastardo was as cheerful and harmless-seeming as all hell, but that didn't mean a thing in this business. Antonio could be as dangerous as fuck...

"Lovi~! You came back!" A cheerful Spaniard suddenly attacked him from behind with...a hug?

The fuck? "Get the hell off of me!" Lovino yelped, knocking over the chair as he jumped up and shoved the tomato bastard away. "Jesus Christ, yes, I fucking came back, that's not a fucking invitation to leap on fucking top of me!"

"Sorry, Lovi~!" Antonio said cheerfully. "But I'm really happy you came back!"

_How is he so fucking cheerful? It's. Not. Normal! _"Yeah, yeah, what-fucking-ever," Lovino grumbled as he righted his chair.

"Do you want coffee?" Antonio asked him, seeming eager.

_It's just a fucking cup of coffee. Why is he so fucking happy about getting me a cup of coffee? _"Um, sure," Lovino muttered. He followed Antonio back to the counter to pay.

While he waited, Lovino became aware of the fact that Antonio was chattering on about...something.

"-so I wasn't sure if you'd come back today or not, but you did! Just so you know, we still only have instant coffee. Were you surprised to see everyone else back here too? See, Roderich's a pianist, so he kind of makes his own schedule, and Elizaveta's a teacher and they're on school break right now. Francis is a writer and so he makes his own schedule too, but Gil doesn't actually have a job, and Matthew-that's Gil's boyfriend in the corner there, he's talking to him now actually, aren't they so cute?"

Lovino sighed and shut out Antonio's chatter again. At least he had learned something useful, but he couldn't take much more of this cheery nonstop talking crap-only half of it was useful. There had to be a way to get Antonio to stay focused on things that would be useful to Lovino... "So...um...are they all friends of yours?" It was a bit of a stupid question-but maybe Antonio would tell him things about the others and his relationship to them that would help Lovino.

"Well, Elizaveta's a good friend of mine and Gil and Francis are my best friends, but Roderich and I have only been friends for a little while since he started dating Eliza, and Matthew's more of an acquaintance than anything else, he's really quiet and he spends a lot of time with Gil but not so much time with me or any of Gil's other friends so I don't know much about him. But Eliza and I have been friends for three years and Gil and Francis and I have been friends since elementary school!" Antonio said cheerfully.

Lovino stared at Antonio for a minute. _Jesus Christ, ask a simple question, get a fucking flood in response... _Lovino would have liked to ask how well all of them knew Antonio, but that was way too suspicious. "...Oh. And..." Think, think, think... Lovino remembered belatedly that he wouldn't know Antonio's age or anything already-they were supposed to have just met. Asking Antonio's age was a good question, even if it was redundant for Lovino. "Um, how old are you anyway?"

"I'm twenty-five," Antonio answered cheerfully. "And I've lived here my whole life, even though I know I kind of have a Spanish accent. It's because my mom and I spoke Spanish at home because she was an immigrant from Spain."

"Um...right...nice," Lovino muttered, barely paying attention as he waited for his damn coffee. Why was it taking so fucking long for the tomato bastard to make instant coffee?

"So what about you?"

"Wha-huh?" Lovino managed extremely eloquently.

"What about you? Do you have any family? How old are you?" Antonio asked, inquisitive gaze fixed on Lovino.

"I-um-" Lovino had never prepared himself to answer questions like these from a target. "None of your damn business!" What was he supposed to do? Tell Antonio every-fucking-thing about himself? No!

"Come on, pleeeeaaase?" Antonio said in a tone a little bit similar to that of a pleading little kid. "Just tell me one thing about yourself, Lovi~! Like your age!"

Lovino hesitated. It...it couldn't hurt to tell Antonio his _age_, right? It wasn't like it was...top-secret information...

_Big mistake_, said the snide voice in the back of his head.

_Shut the fuck up_, Lovino snapped at it. "I'm 23," he answered.

"That's only two years apart!" Antonio said happily. "Oh, and here's your coffee!"

Lovino scowled. "Yeah, well, so fucking what?" he snapped, suddenly extremely angry for no apparent reason as he snatched the coffee and returning to his table, unable to figure out why he was so pissed off now. What the hell was up with that stupid tomato bastard? Why did that one fucking stupid observation make him so pissed off? Sure, Lovino got angry a lot, but at least then he had a fucking reason. This was different-he felt like all he had to do was see the tomato bastard's fucking cheerful face and he was pissed off.

Lovino shook himself mentally and sat down at his table. He had to focus on his job. He didn't have time to sit around wondering about what made the fucking tomato bastard so...so...annoying! It was more than annoying, actually...

_But I don't have time to sit around and think about that!_ Lovino snapped at himself angrily. At least Antonio had given him something useful-information about who he was closest to and how he knew everyone else here. Francis and Gilbert would know him best, although Lovino could have guessed that. Elizaveta was probably the one who knew him best after those two idiots, and Matthew and Roderich didn't really factor too much into the equation. They didn't seem to know Antonio too well.

_Three people,_ Lovino reflected. _I have to avoid creating suspicion with three different people. Maybe more, if he has a large family... Shit! I forgot about sua famiglia! How am I going to handle that?_

Lovino already knew Antonio had a mother, but whether or not that mother lived with Antonio, if he lived with sisters or brothers or cousins or has a father...that Lovino didn't know, and the bigger the family and the more people who lived with Antonio, the harder his job became. He would have to find a way to answer those questions...

He would have to follow Antonio and see if he could find anything out about his family. Maybe tonight.

Lovino sighed. In the meantime, he might as well find out as much as he could about Antonio's three closest friends by watching them. The more he knew about them and their relationship with Antonio, the easier it would be to not raise their suspicions when he killed Antonio.

One thing was for certain now: suicide, poison and guns and knives were all out. As much of an idiota as Antonio was, if he was threatened at gunpoint or knifepoint for his money or something similar, he would hand it over and probably do so cheerfully. Besides, he wasn't stupid enough to walk home down a dark alleyway-or at least, Lovino hoped not... Wait! Why did he fucking care? Lovino scowled. _I don't care_, he snapped to himself. _It's just business. The guy's a fucking idiota but even I can tell he's not stupid enough to walk down a fucking alleyway! I'm not hoping for anything! It's...it's just good that there's no chance someone else will get to him because he's stupid enough to walk down a fucking alleyway and get himself killed!_

Lovino scowled even more, refocusing his attention on ways to kill Antonio. Suicide was out because the tomato bastard was so fucking cheerful-even a depressed person who hid it well couldn't be as fucking cheerful as Antonio all the fucking time. As for poison, it was not only too easily traced, it was too obvious. It would raise the suspicions of friends and family because Antonio was young and perfectly healthy and it was highly unlikely that he would die of some sort of heart attack or something. Then they would probably realize something was up and probably start to wonder who in the world would want to kill such a fucking cheerful and naïve person...

And if they started to do some digging, well...

That would be a serious problem for Lovino.

So poison, suicide, knives and guns were out. That left something like pushing him down the stairs and making it look like he tripped (was he clumsy enough for that? Then again, there was a first time for everything, and this was a freak accident), a hit-and-run (they happened), something being wrong with his car (he would crash because of faulty breaks or something, it happened often enough), or something extremely rare like a falling sign (but that might draw too much attention).

Lovino sighed again. This job was so much more fucking complicated than every single other one he'd ever taken on! If Antonio had done something awful enough to get the mafia after him, how did he have so many people who knew nothing around him? Lovino knew that for a person who'd done something to get assassinated by the mafia, having even three friends and a coffee shop was a risk and something none of his previous targets would have done. Having more friends, or even just acquaintances, was even more of a risk, and if Antonio had a family...well, that was practically unheard of in the business Lovino was in.

Frowning, Lovino tried again to puzzle through what Antonio might have done. Honestly, he was so cheerful, harmless, surrounded by people, apparently extremely naïve...what could he possibly have-

_Wait a minute! What am I fucking doing? I've been through this before! Focus on getting the job done-it's not my problem what he's done to deserve this! I kill him, I get the money, life goes on. Everyone's fucking happy. End of story! _Lovino scowled. What was his problem lately?

Shaking his head, he looked around and saw Francis chatting with Antonio. Francis glanced his way and then looked back at Antonio.

...Lovino was the topic of conversation?

_Just fucking great_, Lovino thought, angry at himself for getting noticed like that. It would be suspicious if he came into Antonio's life just a few weeks or even a month before his death! God, why hadn't he been more fucking careful to not be noticed?

Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Lovino released a resigned sigh. He would have to deal with the consequences as they came-and he would have to be more careful about what he did from now on. That was all there was to it.

He returned to observing the others in the cafe. Elizaveta and Roderich looked like they were getting ready to head out, which meant they were leaving earlier than yesterday. Gilbert and Matthew were still in the corner, with Gilbert going on and on about...something trivial.

Gilbert was loud, obnoxious and apparently egotistical. That might make him easier to fool about Antonio's death.

As for Francis, he seemed quieter, but he also seemed to have an extremely overactive libido... Maybe he could be distracted after Antonio's death using that? Then again, he also seemed a bit sharper than Gilbert, just from what Lovino had so far observed... Perhaps it would be best to let Francis be and allow him to draw his own conclusions. As long as Lovino made the death probable enough, Francis would probably accept it as an unfortunate accident.

Elizaveta... Lovino needed to observe her more. He couldn't tell anything about her yet, really, or anything about Matthew or Roderich. At least he had more time to observe before he had to kill Antonio...

Lovino looked up to see Antonio coming over. _Great. What does he want now?_

"Hi, Lovi~" Antonio said happily, sitting down.

Lovino said the first thing that came to his mind: "What's with the stupid tomato apron?"

"I like tomatoes!" Antonio replied cheerfully. "Tomatoes are the best."

Lovino hesitated, then grudgingly nodded agreement. Even if Antonio was his target-he had to keep reminding himself of that!-it was nice that he and Antonio had something in common...

"So do you have any family?" Antonio asked.

Lovino hesitated. He almost wanted to tell Antonio...

_You idiota_, hissed the voice in the back of his head. _You can't tell him any more than you've already made the mistake of telling him! Focus!_

Lovino scowled. The voice was, he hated to admit it, right. He was losing focus. Telling Antonio about his fratello was a serious misstep-and he couldn't afford any serious missteps. "No."

"Really? That's so sad! You must be lonely at home. Do you want to visit my family?" Antonio asked happily.

Lovino stared at him. Did he always invite random strangers off the street to visit his family. "...No." He would like to know more about Antonio's family, but he couldn't just ask Antonio to list who lived with him, how many siblings he had, how old they all were and everything else he needed to know. It was too suspicious-even Antonio had to catch on at some point.

"Okay, well, if you ever change your mind the offer's always open!" Antonio said happily. He stood and returned to standing behind the counter, starting to clean off the counter with a rag he retrieved from the sink.

Lovino glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see it was near closing time. How had the time gotten away from him so quickly?

Glancing around, he realized that at some point Gilbert and Matthew had left-how he had missed the loud and obnoxious Gilbert leaving, Lovino wasn't sure-and that Francis was currently getting ready to leave. Elizaveta and Roderich seemed to have left a while ago, although Lovino had actually noticed them getting ready to leave, so it wasn't quite so surprising to find them gone.

Standing, Lovino made a decision: he wasn't going to follow Antonio tonight. He was going to go home and come back tomorrow at closing time, wait around until Antonio left and follow him them. This decision was made partly because Lovino needed a break and food, and partly because following Antonio now felt too...rushed, suspicious. Lovino assumed many things seemed suspicious-he had to be careful to do the job he did and still be alive. He couldn't afford screw-ups of any kind, and this job was turning out to be harder than most-he'd already made the mistakes of giving the target his name and age and getting noticed by one of the target's closest friends. He couldn't afford to be any more suspicious or make any more mistakes.

Stretching, Lovino headed for the door.

Antonio yelled after him, "Come back again soon, si~?"

Lovino shrugged and left. He wouldn't be back tomorrow, that much he knew, but maybe the day after or something...

Lovino returned home about a half hour later-around 6:30. "Feliciano, I'm back."

"Ve~ How'd it go?" Feliciano asked from where he was cooking pasta in the kitchen.

Lovino entered the kitchen, having left his jacket and shoes in the hallway. "It went. Antonio was as fucking overly cheerful as usual." He sighed.

Feliciano watched him with a strange expression.

Lovino looked at him for a minute before he couldn't take it anymore. "For Christ's sake, what? Why are you looking at me that way?"

Feliciano shrugged and went back to stirring pasta. "...You know, you can always tell me anything."

Lovino stared at his brother. "...Um...right. Yeah. Whatever." Shaking his head, he left the room to go and read a book. He needed to relax, take his mind off Antonio... And hopefully stop pondering why his brother was acting so weird lately.

It had only been since he'd taken on this case...in those two days he'd begun spending time around Antonio... Lovino scowled, unable to figure out what could have caused Feliciano's strange looks this morning and tonight, as well as what he'd said.

It was fucking strange. And a problem for another day, Lovino decided, collapsing into a chair with his book.

**Hint hint. Feliciano has guessed something about what's going on with Lovino, and thus is acting weird.**

**Anyway, I'm kind of proud of this chapter's length, but not so much the content...**

**It would be longer but I'm lazy and don't have much time.**

**As always, reviews are nice. Hope you enjoyed reading!**

**Oh, and by the way, 'sua famiglia' should mean 'his family'-if I'm wrong, though, someone please tell me.**

**Thanks!**

**-Ashe**


	4. Chapter 4

'**Ello again, I'm finally back and updating. I'm on summer break now so updates should be more frequent. I know it's been a while and I'm sorry, but...well, I'll explain at the end. Enjoy the story!**

**Oh, right...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.**

**STORY TIME!**

Lovino woke, slightly groggy, at ten in the morning the next day. He lay there for a few moments, wondering why he'd woken so early when his alarm hadn't even gone off. With a sight, he stretched and went to collect his clothes so he could shower.

Fifteen minutes later, he appeared in the kitchen, fully dressed, and left a note for his still-sleeping brother.

_Feliciano,_

_Going out for the day, you know why. Back later, not sure how late._

_-Lovino_

His brother probably wouldn't have worried even if he hadn't left a note, but Lovino didn't feel like taking any chances with his overly attached sibling. Turning, he quietly left the house, not wanting to wake Feliciano by being too loud.

Once outside, Lovino breathed in the cool, crisp morning, colder today than yesterday. Winter was definitely coming on fast...

Well, it was already October. Winter was practically upon them.

Lovino frowned. Speaking of October, Halloween was in two days, as it fell on a Thursday this year...he'd nearly forgotten.

Not that it really mattered whether he remembered Halloween or not.

Lovino sighed and then started walking. He wasn't really sure why he had left the house so early in the morning, except he didn't feel like sitting around and waiting for Feliciano to wake up and act weird again.

Besides, he was feeling particularly agitated for some reason, and walks usually helped to clear his head.

Lovino frowned, thinking on Antonio. Yes, the guy was abnormally fucking cheerful, and yes, he acted like a goddamn open book, and yes, he was nice to a point that Lovino almost couldn't believe was real. He also seemed like a completely clueless idiot.

And yet, he was a target. That meant he had to have done _something_ to grant himself a place on the hit list-as Lovino well knew, there was no way that De Luca would send him after someone who hadn't done anything wrong.

So what the hell was such a cheerful idiot mixed up in that he would land himself in the way of a death sentence?

Lovino scowled, wandering into the park and taking a seat on a bench. Around him, people were walking dogs and children were playing and other such antics were taking place, but Lovino wasn't paying attention to any of that. He was focused on the thought that continued to bother him, the one he simply couldn't settle no matter what:

What the hell had Antonio done?

The more Lovino thought about it, the angrier it made him that he couldn't figure it out. After all, he rationalized, Antonio had to have done something or he wouldn't have made the list. At the same time, the Spaniard behaved like an open book. He didn't have any secrets-not as far as Lovino could tell, anyone.

Then again, his brother acted just as cheery and open, and no one would guess that he was a master assassin...

Who couldn't actually bring himself to hurt so much as a fly.

Lovino frowned, thinking it over. He had been using his brother's behavior compared to what Feli did for a living to justify how Antonio could be on a hit list and still be so cheery and open. But now that he thought about it, while Feli did keep the secret that they were both trained as assassins and that Lovino had killed more people than he could count, Feli had never actually hurt anyone himself.

He was too nice to bring himself to kill or hurt any other people, in the same way that Antonio seemed to be. Couple that niceness with Antonio's openness, which Feli tended to lack around other people, and you had a person who probably couldn't hide anything for more than two seconds.

Lovino gritted his teeth and punched the bench, then bit back a yelp. That had been a stupid idea.

But he couldn't help it-all this thinking was just making everything make less sense!

Antonio seemed too nice and open to have done anything, but he had to have done something or De Luca wouldn't have sent an assassin after him. So what, then, had he done? Carted drugs?

Surely not hurt another member of the mob-he seemed too nice to have hurt so much as a fly, the same way Feli seemed.

And Antonio didn't seem like the type to have sold weapons...and besides, Lovino couldn't see that getting him in trouble with the mob. People who sold weapons were always good with the mafia, so long as they supplied the mafia with whatever weapons they required.

So that left...well, it left all manner of crime, but what Lovino kept getting stuck on was that Antonio didn't seem the type to have personally committed any crime at all. Maybe, _maybe_ the type to have kept the secret of someone who had committed crimes, but that wasn't anything that should have gotten him on a hit list, especially not the mafia's hit list.

So what in the hell had such a cheery, nice, sweet...

HOLD UP A SECOND.

"Sweet?" Lovino muttered to himself, clenching his fists. "Where the hell did that come from?!"

Antonio was a target, Lovino reminded himself. A. Target. Not someone to be getting involved with, not someone to be trying to justify the death of, not someone sweet, not someone to care about. Targets meant nothing. What was important was killing the target and keeping himself and Feli safe and in the business.

He had to stop worrying about Antonio and trying to figure out what he'd done! Lovino couldn't allow himself to care about Antonio, not one bit, and he couldn't afford to break his code and let Antonio in. Antonio needed to die. And Lovino needed to keep him at arm's length distance.

_Never mind that you already gave him your age, your name, made a connection with him..._ the smug little voice in the back of his head reminded him.

"I DID NOT MAKE FUCKING CONNECTION WITH HIM!" Lovino yelled. Then he paused and realized all those within fifteen feet of him were now looking at him with some very strange expressions.

Oops.

Lovino stood and left the area quickly. Jesus Christ. He'd never lost his cool in public like that before, never even come close, and he'd never lost his cool over a target before, ever.

What the hell was going on?

Lovino thought his behavior through, trying to rationalize and figure it out. It wasn't that he had formed a connection with Antonio or any such bullshit, no, of course not. Yes, he had accidentally broken his 'be invisible and tell them nothing about yourself' code with the name and the age and all, but that didn't mean he'd made a connection. He wasn't befriending Antonio or anything like it.

So then why had he gotten so pissed over the suggestion that he might have?

_Because it's not true_, Lovino thought defiantly. Of course. That was it. It wasn't true and that was why he got so upset, because he hated having anything that wasn't true be thought or said about him, especially when it came from his own mind.

That overreaction out of the way, Lovino returned to the real issue: why did he care so much what that fucking idiota had done to get himself targeted by the mob?

Well...it wasn't because he fucking cared about the fucking idiot or anything, of course not. It was...because...

Because of a moral obligation Lovino had to himself. He didn't want to kill anyone who hadn't actually done anything; that wasn't how he operated. Of course. _That_ was why he was so hung up on figuring it out!

After all, the tomato bastard seemed so unlikely to have actually done anything...so it would stand to reason that Lovino had begun to doubt that he actually had done anything, and of course he had to satisfy his curiosity before going forward with killing Antonio so he would know Antonio had actually done something to deserve it.

Lovino nodded to himself. That was definitely it, he decided, resolutely ignoring the fact that he had never wondered this about any other target, no matter how 'nice' they had seemed on the surface. He had killed them all in cold blood, but that was just because he hadn't had any reason to doubt that they had done something to deserve death. It was different this time. Antonio just didn't seem like the type, that was all, and it had nothing to do with any _connection_ Lovino had definitely _not_ formed with that fucking idiot.

Right.

Well...in that case...

Lovino headed for the library. He would just have to do a bit of digging of his own!

_You know, you yelled at Feli for trying to do the same,_ the little voice in the back of his head reminded him. _You told him it was 'breaking the code,' no matter what his suspicions...so how do you justify what you're doing now?_

_It's...it's different! I'm the one who actually has to kill him, and he seems so fucking clueless and nice, of course I need confirmation!_ Lovino justified.

He wasn't breaking any fucking code by investigating a bit. Yeah, he'd told Feli it wasn't their way to get involved, but Lovino wasn't really...getting _involved_. He was just...justifying the death of the person he had to kill, that was all.

Nodding to himself, Lovino headed into the library and went straight to an isolated computer in the back. He really didn't want anyone looking over his shoulder while he investigated...

Too bad he didn't have his own personal laptop, but ah well.

Lovino sat down and went to work, hoping he would have more luck than Feli.

Three hours later, Lovino collapsed in the chair he was sitting in, frustration clear from his clenched fists and scowl.

"Three hours. Three. Fucking. Hours," Lovino growled to himself. "And nothing!"

Not one single. Fucking. Thing.

Whatever Antonio had done, it was well fucking hidden...

Or it didn't exist at all.

Lovino shook his head. That was stupid. Of course it existed, of course Antonio had done something! It was just too deeply buried for Lovino to find himself, no matter that he knew quite well where to look.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and Lovino sat bolt upright in his chair.

Of course.

Of course!

How could he have been so _stupid_? So he couldn't find whatever it was that Antonio did, but Lovino knew there was one person who could. One person who had access to any information Lovino could ever possibly need, one person who could find what Antonio did and end this question once and for all.

And he was only a phone call away.

Lovino stood and left the library, taking his cell phone out and dialing the number quickly. He received a voice mail, but left a message:

"It's Lovino. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, 25, owns a coffee shop. I need all the information you can find on him, specifically any and all crimes he's been involved in, _ever_. Let me know when you've got something and tell me where we can meet."

He hung up the phone and replaced it in his pocket. His informant would text him once he had the information needed, and tell Lovino where to meet him. Lovino figured he wouldn't hear from the guy for a few days, though, probably three or four-he had a feeling this would be an extensive search.

Still, at least everything would be settled shortly, and in the meantime, Lovino had to keep on going with his job, as per usual.

He checked the time-nearing 1:30. Jesus, only 1:30? Christ...

"What the fuck am I supposed to do for the next four hours?" Lovino mumbled. As he had left the cafe at only 6 last night and Antonio had still been there, he figured the cafe didn't close until 6:30 or 7. But since he was going to be tailing Antonio home, Lovino wanted to get there before closing time and find a place to hide so he would be able to see when Antonio left and Antonio wouldn't know he was there. So he figured he'd arrive maybe an hour, hour and a half before the presumed closing time so he could find an out-of-the-way place to be.

But that left four fucking hours to kill.

Lovino sighed. When had his job become so tedious?

...Actually, there were a great many things his job had become since Antonio had become his target: tedious, difficult, confusing, agitating, annoying...

Lovino shook himself. No need to dwell on that-once Antonio was out of the way, things would go right back to normal.

But for now...he needed to figure out what the hell to do for the next _four hours_.

Lovino yawned and then decided to go get a cup of coffee...no, _not_ at Antonio's cafe, somewhere with actual fucking _coffee_ that didn't come out of a goddamn can of brown powder. After all, he hadn't had any coffee that morning or all day. Lovino could seriously use some coffee right now.

He started walking back towards the place he and Feli lived. There was a nice little coffee shop with real coffee only five minutes from their house, and after he had his coffee, he could figure out what to do with the rest of his time.

Lovino reached the coffee shop in no time and walked in, ordering a large coffee, black. He paid for the coffee-which cost $4, but all the same, it was good coffee-and then walked over to a table in the corner. He always picked corner tables-years of working with the mafia and other shady characters had made him...well, slightly paranoid.

Lovino sipped his coffee and then nearly choked in surprise as Feliciano walked in. Feliciano hummed all the way up to the cash register and then cheerily struck up a conversation with the guy behind the register, a brunette Italian boy who looked like he was just about 20. He had darker green eyes and a hair curl somewhat similar to the one Lovino and Feliciano possessed, although more angular and square-ish than their curls.

Lovino watched as Feliciano ordered a cappuccino and turned to go...

Then stopped as he spotted Lovino.

"Lovi~!" Feliciano cried, trotting over and taking a seat at the same table as him. "Hi, Lovi! I was surprised when I woke up this morning and you were gone, usually you don't get up until noon, but then I saw your note so I didn't worry too much, but I thought you'd be gone all day, did you finish early?"

Lovino shut his eyes for a moment, taking in his brother's high-speed chatter. "...No, I didn't finish early. I'm not done yet. I'm just taking a break...since I have about three and a half hours to kill before I can do what I need to do."

"Oh." Feliciano was quiet for a moment, then said, "Why can't you just go to Antonio's coffee shop?"

Lovino sighed. "Because, Feli, I'm going to go there at closing time so I can learn where he lives and try and see how many others he lives with. So I don't want him to see me, and therefore I can't go to his coffee shop."

"...Oh." Feliciano was silent for another moment, then said, "If you aren't going to his coffee shop, where have you been all day and why were you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep and so I went for a walk and then...I...did some things," Lovino said, a tad evasively.

Feliciano looked at him, frowning.

"What?" Lovino exclaimed.

"What do you mean by 'some things'?" Felicano asked curiously.

"I-nothing."

"...Lovi...you always tell me everything!" Feliciano pouted.

"Ahhh, fine, I was at the library doing some research!" It was out before Lovino could stop himself. The second he had said it, he cursed internally as Feliciano's expression became one of slight surprise and something else he couldn't identify.

"You were...doing research?"

"I-yeah..."

"Why?" Feliciano asked, seeming to be seeking confirmation of his suspicions.

"I...well..." Lovino took a deep breath and then said, "I decided you were right. He seems way too nice to have been involved in anything...so I had to know. So...I did some poking around..."

"And?" Feliciano asked, not even upset that Lovino had yelled at him for trying to do the exact same thing.

"I-nothing. Nothing at all. But that doesn't mean anything! It could just be well hidden," Lovino warned his brother. "So I'm having someone else do some more digging for me."

"Okay..." Feliciano said, studying him. "...Why are you so concerned about what Antonio might have done?"

Lovino looked at his brother. It wasn't like Feli to ask such a question... "Because...I don't think it would be right to kill an innocent person..." he said, wondering what was going on with his brother.

"Oh...okay..." Feliciano said, still studying him.

Lovino had to say something. He had to. "Feli...are you okay?"

Feliciano nodded, snapping back to his cheery self. "Of course~! Why do you ask?"

"You've been...acting weird..." Lovino muttered.

Feliciano shrugged. "I'm just a little concerned that the stress of this job is getting you down, that's all~! Anyway, I have to go. We're all out of ingredients for pasta!" He stood and skipped out the door with his cappuccino.

Lovino watched his brother go, frowning. Great. Feliciano just _had_ to go and give him something else to wonder about...

Like he didn't already have enough to think about.

Lovino sighed and slouched in his seat, checking his watch. Two hours to go now...well, more like an hour and a half before he had to start walking over.

Lovino sipped his coffee and decided to stay here for the hour and a half. He needed to relax a little before he did what he had to do.

An hour and a half later, Lovino stood to leave, heading down the street and heading for the coffee shop. He found an out-of-the-way spot half an hour later, leaving him just half an hour to an hour's wait before Antonio left.

Luckily for Lovino, who got cold fairly easily when standing or sitting still, Antonio left half an hour later and started heading home. Lovino waited a few moments, then started following him at a safe distance. He walked along for half an hour as Antonio began heading down progressively more and more deserted streets.

Well, shit.

Lovino scowled as he turned on to a street with next to no people. Leave it to Antonio to go and unintentionally make his job hard.

Ah, well...

Lovino turned the corner and stopped. Great. He had lost Antonio...where the fuck had the tomato bastard gone?

Lovino looked around. He was in a small and quiet neighborhood consisting mostly of apartment buildings. So...Antonio probably lived in one of these, then, or maybe one of the few small houses along the street...

But where had he g-

"Lovi~!"

"Wha-GET OFF OF ME!" Lovino yelped as he was tackled by an overly friendly Spaniard from behind. How the _hell_...?

"Lovi, you're in the same neighborhood I live in, yay!" Antonio said happily, refusing to release Lovino from his hug.

"Get. Off. Of. Me!" Lovino yelped, wriggling free of Antonio. "Gah! Yes, I am in your neighborhood, that is not an excuse for you to tackle me!" His cheeks were warm and he was willing to be he was blushing.

"Aw, you look like a toma-"

"Don't say it!"

"Tomato~!" Antonio finished with a smile. "You're so cute~! Anyway, since you're here, you want to join me and my family for dinner?"

Lovino hesitated. Feliciano might be expecting him back for dinner...but he didn't have a plausible excuse...and he couldn't pass up such a good chance... "Um, I guess, just...let me make a quick call..."

He dialed his home number.

"Ciao!" said Feli's cheery tone on the other end.

"Ah...listen...I don't know if I told you what time I'd be there, but something's come up and I'll be late..." Lovino said, trying not to let on that he was talking to his brother.

"Oh...okay!" Feliciano agreed. "I'll see you later, then."

Lovino muttered, "Right...bye." He hung up the phone. "Um...okay...so...I guess I'm free," he mumbled to Antonio.

"Yay~!" Antonio said. "Come on, I live in a house around the corner."

As Lovino followed him, he marveled at the fact that Antonio hadn't even questioned how or why he was in the same neighborhood Antonio just happened to live in. He was also puzzling over how Antonio had managed to disappear from view and then reappear without Lovino knowing he was there.

Oh, well...maybe he was just getting a little less sharp...he would have to fix that later.

For now, Lovino needed to focus on the task at hand.

Antonio led him to a small white house and opened the front door. "Come on, Lovi~" he said cheerfully.

"My name is not Lovi!" Lovino grumbled as he stepped into Antonio's house. The front door opened into a breezeway that led into the living room. From the living room, Lovino could see a staircase leading to what was presumably bedrooms, and the kitchen and family room. It was a small house, and a nice place.

"Mamá, ya estoy en casa, me trajo un amigo!" Antonio called.

A woman with light brown hair and green eyes appeared around the corner from the kitchen. "Ah, Antonio! Who is this?" she asked with a rather thick Spanish accent, although she was still easily understandable.

"This is Lovi," Antonio introduced Lovino. "Lovi, this is mi madre!"

"Um. Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Fernandez," Lovino mumbled to her.

"It is my pleasure," she said cheerfully. "Please, call me Amaya."

"Toni, is that you?" called another female voice from upstairs. A girl who seemed to be about twenty came down the stairs. Her hair was a dark blonde color, held back with a green ribbon, and her eyes were green. "Toni!" She ran over and hugged him.

"Hola, Bella," Antonio said happily. "Bella, this is Lovi, he's having dinner with us tonight! Lovi, this is my cousin Bella Carriedo."

Bella nodded in his direction. "It's really Isabella, but everyone calls me Bella, you should too~!" She smiled happily at him, then turned to Amaya. "Auntie Amaya, is there anything I can help with for dinner?"

"No, no, everything is just about ready," the older woman replied. "If you would, though, go and set the table, we will be eating soon."

Bella nodded and skipped off into the dining room.

"What's for dinner, Mamá?" Antonio asked.

"We are having paella tonight," Amaya answered. "Come, come, it is almost ready, go help your cousin! Lucille is coming over tonight as well, she will be here shortly-ah, that must be her now!"

The doorbell was ringing.

Antonio opened the door. "Lucille!" he exclaimed happily, embracing the small girl at the door. She was short and wearing a pink dress, with long light blonde hair, part of which was tied into a braid and held with a red hair bow. Her eyes were a light blue behind her glasses.

"Hi, Antonio," she replied, hugging him and then stepping inside. Her eyes fixed on Lovino.

"Ah, Lovi, this is Bella's best friend Lucille, she's also Francis's younger sister," Antonio explained. "Lucille, this is Lovi~!"

Lovino sighed, realizing he hadn't even once corrected Antonio. He supposed he might as well give up...

"Dinner is ready!" called Amaya from the dining room.

Dinner was cheerful and lively affair. Bella and Antonio were very similar, both very cheerful, although Lovino couldn't help but notice that Bella was more closed than Antonio. Lucille was lively but quieter than the two of them, and also came across as less open than Antonio. Amaya just seemed very motherly, reminding them to stop horsing around and eat their food and mind their manners because they had a guest tonight.

Lovino took stock of who lived there: only two others, but both seemed very close to Antonio...his death would hurt them...

Wait, why the hell would he care how people close to Antonio would feel? His main concern was that this was two more people he needed to worry about keeping the secret from!

Lovino sighed to himself. He was getting farther off track tonight, and he couldn't tell why...

Dinner was over fifteen minutes later, and Lovino stood to go. "Thanks for inviting me," he said to Antonio. It was strange to have eaten dinner in the home of a target, let alone be thanking that target for inviting him over...

It was becoming admittedly difficult to think of Antonio as a target.

Lovino turned to leave without waiting for Antonio's response. It was now nearly 8:00, he needed to get home and-

"Lovi, wait a second!"

Lovino turned to see Antonio following him. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"Wellllll...I was wondering if...um..." Antonio hesitated, seeming nervous.

"Spit it out!" Lovino snapped.

"Will you go on a date with me tomorrow?" Antonio said in a rush.

Lovino stared at him. "H-huh?" Why was he suddenly blushing? Wh...what the hell was going on? Had Antonio just seriously asked him on a date?

"We could go to the movies?" Antonio suggested tentatively.

Lovino felt panicked for a second. What was he supposed to say? Why was Antonio asking him this? Wha... "S-si," he stammered out before he could stop himself.

What. The. Hell.

"Yay~!" Antonio exclaimed cheerfully. "Come by the coffee shop tomorrow at closing time, okay? I close up at 6:30, and there's a movie place within walking distance from there. See you tomorrow~!" He hesitated, then kissed Lovino's cheek and vanished back inside his house, leaving Lovino standing there, slightly dazed, panicked, and very confused as to why he had said yes.

Was it...possible...that he...had a crush on...

Shit.

Lovino walked home in shock. Once he reached his house, he sat down on the couch and looked up as Feliciano came into the room.

Feliciano frowned. "Lovi, are you okay?"

"I..." Lovino stared at his brother.

"Is it Antonio?" Feliciano asked with a slight smile.

"I...yeah...he asked me...on a date..." Lovino said, still struggling to comprehend that _he had a crush on Antonio and he was going on a date with him._

"And what did you say?" Feliciano asked, a slight frown on his face now.

"I...I said yes. I...Feli, I think I like him...like...really like him..." Lovino said, struggling with the word 'crush.'

Feliciano giggled. "Of course you do, silly~! I knew that much!" He studied Lovino's shocked expression and then said confidently, "Don't worry. I'm sure Antonio's done nothing wrong, and then you won't have to kill him, and you can date him!" He skipped out of the room again.

Lovino sighed. If only it would be that easy.

His life was suddenly much more complicated, and he had a date tomorrow night.

**HOLY GOD LONG CHAPTER**

**AND YES!**

**Lovino has finally realized he's crushing on our darling Tonio and they have a date! Had to happen some time, Lovi.**

**Oh, and in case no one noticed, Seborga, Monaco, and Belgium have all made appearances in this chapter of the story. Monaco and Belgium will be showing up later, but Seborga's made his one appearance and he's pretty much done.**

**I may slip the other micronations into future chapters, I like those guys.**

**Quick translation- 'Mama, ya estoy en casa, me trajo un amigo' should mean 'Mom, I'm home, I brought a friend'. I had them start off in Spanish because I think that's how Antonio usually begins when he enters the house-with Spanish. After all, his mom was an immigrant from Spain, he grew up speaking Spanish.**

**Now, a quick explanation:**

**I'm sorry I took forever to update, but shortly after my last update I got swamped with schoolwork, then I ended up in the hospital, then I had a ton of schoolwork again, then I was back in the hospital, and then I took some time to chill, then I had summer camp, then my relatives were visiting, and now I'm back from all that, and I will be updating probably more regularly now.**

**There you have it. Apologies for the late update, but I'll be more prompt now that I'm on break and not busy!**

**And now I'm going to bed, because I am really, really tired.**

**Reviews welcome!**


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